


Reputation

by glitzyeol



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Swearing, a simple angst breakup prompt with monsters, idk - Freeform, so basically the nancy situation doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-18 19:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21282281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitzyeol/pseuds/glitzyeol
Summary: You'd stumbled across Steve and his new friends in the junkyard while trying to break up with him. Only you hadn't expected terrifying monsters to interrupt your perfectly normal life.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Reputation

**Author's Note:**

> This was a dialogue prompt I wrote for an anon on tumblr. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! Feedback is appreciated ♡

_“If you want to continue hanging out with us Y/N, you need to break up with Steve.”_

What Carol had said to you ran through your mind as you walked around trying to find your boyfriend. Ever since he’d fallen from the top of the ladder Carol and Tommy have been onto you about breaking it off.

You didn’t have the first clue where Steve was, you’d tried calling his house telephone but there was no answer. So far you’d just strolled around all the places you thought he might be, mainly his house and downtown.

As you walked along the train tracks in the woods you noticed a kind of meat trail. Your best option was probably not to follow it but of course you didn’t listen to the voice screaming at you to turn around.

If anything the walk helped to clear your mind as you thought about what to do with the whole situation. You didn’t want to break up, not really. You loved him but your reputation was also important. Maybe you could fake splitting up. Would that work?

While being lost in thought, you’d walked into the old junkyard. It was unlikely that Steve was there – more likely some kind of hunter – but it didn’t hurt to check at this point.

It had gotten too dark to see the meat by the time you’d gotten to the junkyard, there was a lamppost but the fog rolling over the ground wasn’t helping. _Yeah, no telling him could wait._ Just as you were about to leave, you slipped on something slimy and cold.

“Ow… What the fuck!” Oh, a meat pile. Great.

“Y/N?”

You snapped your head up from inspecting the meat chunks on the floor and looked at your boyfriend who came out of a run down bus. It looked like it was built up to be some kind of fort.

Steve rushed over to help you up. “What are you doing here?!”

“Me? What are _you_ doing here?”

The wet patches on your clothes were disgusting, and the smell, it almost caused you to gag. Before you knew what was happening you were being dragged towards the bus by a frantic Steve. “Get inside! It’s dangerous!”

“Dange-” Your cut yourself off when you saw three kids in the bus. Lucas, Dustin and… Billy Hargrove’s little sister, Max. _What the fuck._ “Why are they here? What is going on?”

You moved further into the bus as your boyfriend slammed the bus door shut and glanced outside between the wood and grates. It was like he was expecting someone – something?

“Oh it’s a long story.” Lucas spoke up.

The best choice was to stay stood up near the ladder, for a bus the space inside was surprisingly small. Steve had slumped down near where he was looking out of the window.

“Well with how fucking weird you guys are being, I’m assuming the long version is off the table.”

“Long story short, I have a pet named dart; his face opened like a flower, and he ate my cat.” Dustin paced as he summarised his story. “I locked him in the cellar, he escaped. Here we are. To make it easier for you, he’s basically a lizard-like dog.”

“A lizard-like dog?”

“Are you forgetting the fact that his face _opened_ up, and he ate my cat?”

“I mean that too.” You acknowledged, looking at all of their faces, what were they so serious for? Over this? You couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped past your lips. “I’m sorry, what game or comic is this from?”

Dustin and Lucas groaned in response before Lucas said something about being a look out, and shot past you up the ladders.

You gave in and slumped down across from Steve who kept playing with his lighter and glancing over at you.

“Don’t worry I just found out too.” Max suddenly announced to you before turning her attention to Steve. “So you really fought one of these things before?”

His nod in response made you furrow your eyebrows, why was he playing along with whatever this was?

“And you’re like totally a hundred percent sure it wasn’t a bear?”

Dustin blew up at that causing both you and Max to jump. “Shit don’t be such an idiot! Just go home if you don’t believe us. _Both_ of you.” he pointedly looked over at you before looking back at Max.

The poor girl quickly took that as her cue to flee the scene and went up the ladders after Lucas. You just sat in stunned silence.

“That’s good, just show her you don’t care.” your eyes fell back on Steve as he complimented the kid. Did he mean…

The wink followed by Dustin’s complaint answered your suspicion. “Have you been telling him that not caring is the way to get a girlfriend?”

“What? No, just _acting_ like you don’t care.”

“What bullshit.”

“Well it worked fine with you and now we are in love.”

You shook your head and gave Dustin a ‘what the fuck?’ Expression who just shrugged his shoulders in response. “No it didn’t and you know it.”

The scrunch of defeat on Steve’s face as he just put his attention on the lighter caused you and Dustin to burst with laughter. He could be such an idiot sometimes, but he was your idiot. Maybe a discussion of the relationship becoming a secret could wait a little longer. You didn’t want to break the now comfortable silence.

The silence was unfortunately broken for you as a loud screech tore through the air. “What was that?” Your question was ultimately ignored as the two boys jumped into action, peering through the makeshift windows.

“You see him?”

“No.”

You squeezed up against Steve’s back and peeked through the small gap trying to see into the fog. “Is this about that lizard dog?”

Before either of them could reply, Lucas called down something about having eyes on him and ten o'clock. You never really understood what that shit meant so you were thankful when the spot was pointed out, you squinted through the fog until a dog shaped thing manifested. “Looks like just a big dog to me.”

You were yet again ignored as the two continued to talk between themselves. You would have been hurt if this whole situation wasn’t just a big weird joke.

“Why isn’t he taking the bait?”

“Maybe he’s not hungry.”

It was silent for a moment before Steve was moving out from in front of you and Dustin was calling his name. Your eyes stayed on the dark shape outside until your name was called. “Don’t let them leave the bus okay?”

You were confused until you noticed the bat of nails, and he was already stepping a foot outside. “Wow Steve what are you doing?” You called his name when he ignored you but all he did was glance back, wink and then shut the bus door in your face.

What was this idiot doing now?

Even as the kids screamed for him to come back to the boarded bus, you stayed by the window still assuming it must be a massive prank. It was only when he tumbled over a car and you got a better look at the dog- no not a dog, that you realised how serious this was.

You stumbled away from the gap you were looking out of and pressed yourself against the opposite wall, shaking your head.

This _was_ a nightmare…

You would wake up any second now.

“Y/N!” You were snapped out of your thoughts by Dustin and then you realised you were still in the bus, your boyfriend was also back in the bus.

This _was_ real.

There were monsters attacking the bus.

You snapped into action and helped pull the children away from the door Steve was trying to board off. You even shielded them away from the side of the bus when claws came through the metal, holding back a scream of your own.

All your thoughts were jumbled together as you listened to Dustin shout for help down the walkie-talkie, Steve was still hitting the creature though you were certain it must be dead by that point.

Everything fell silent – apart from squelches of the nail bat hitting the wounded beast – as there were loud stomps on the roof, nearing the open hatchet.

You couldn’t help but join Max in screaming when you finally saw what this thing really looked like. It’s face had opened up just like Dustin described, showing rows and rows of teeth.

“Outta the way! Outta the way!” Steve shoved you all behind him. You snapped out of the want to cower in a corner and huddled the kids together behind you.

It probably wouldn’t do much but if the thing managed to get past the both of you, hopefully it would become full before reaching them.

After the creature gave a loud roar, and they all started to run off, everyone stood in a tense silence until it seemed clear enough they were definitely leaving.

You hesitated to follow the others as they piled out of the bus, now you were free to let the full panic set in. You vaguely heard them talking about those things going somewhere.

“Holy shit, holy shit.” you mumbled to yourself. You lived in a small town, things like this were only supposed to happen in shitty horror movies. “What the fuck… Holy shit.”

You were still half convinced this was just a very vivid nightmare, maybe even still a prank.

A hand was shaking at your shoulders and you tried to focus your gaze on Steve standing in front of you.

“Y/N calm down.” The bat of nails was in your view as he clearly wasn’t intending of parting with it. The gooey substance dripping off it only made you freak out more. “We need to go after them.”

“Are you insane?!” You wanted to get as far away from the junkyard as possible, as far away from whatever those things were. You just wanted to go back to your normal life and pretend this never happened. “Let’s just go home okay? Pretend this didn’t happen, I-I can get you back at the top and everything will be normal again.”

Steve scrunched his face up in displeasure and glanced behind you, presumably after the kids. “I don’t care about being at the top.” he gave you his full attention again. “There are monsters in Hawkins Y/N, life is no longer as simple as ranks in a high school.”

You shook your head and moved away from him. “This isn’t for us to deal with Steve! You can’t go after them, we are all too young. Leave it to the adults!”

“Most adults wouldn’t do shit.” He pulled you close into a hug, you went along with it, shaking your head in denial. No one was equipped to fight monsters but the adults must have more sense than two eighteen year olds and a bunch of little teens. Steve made eye contact again and tried to give you a reassuring smile. It only made you angry, this wasn’t okay. “Come on, let’s go after these things… Then we can go back to being crazy in love. Just me and you.”

“I can’t be in love with you! I have a reputation to uphold!” You snapped, using his moment of shock to move away from him again. Your reputation wasn’t important to you at that moment, not really. It was just a play to make the situation as _normal_ as possible again.

“wha-”

“I can’t.”

You both stood in silence, maintaining eye contact until Dustin called out for the both of you from the direction the beasts had gone. The moment passed just like that and Steve walked around you to go to the others.

“You are putting yourself and them three in pointless danger.”

“Yeah, well at least we aren’t running away like cowards.”

With that he was gone, running after the kids. You felt guilty and scared but the fear ultimately won the battle. In a blind panic, you went sprinting in the opposite direction, just wanting to get home.


End file.
